I Spent Thousands Battling Hormonal Acne, and a $20 Regimen Cured It

Through a four-year trial-and-error method, I finally found what keeps my acne under control

Chemical Peels - $720 My dermatologist advised me to get a glycolic acid chemical peel, which he said would exfoliate my skin quickly so the prescriptions I was on would work faster.

I started with a 30-percent glycolic acid peel and got one every two weeks for six months -- 12 peels total. With each peel, the percentage of acid and time it was left on my skin increased. At four months, I was doing a 75-percent peel for five minutes.

The 30-percent peel didn't sting too much, but the 75-percent peel made my eyes water. Afterwards, they'd remove the acid with wet cotton balls and do extractions -- my derm told me this was because, with the top layer of skin removed, the extractions would work better.

At first, my skin did look better and I had the highest hopes that I had found the cure. But after my fourth peel, I started breaking out again. The extractions were leaving me with red scars (which the derm said would fade -- with more peels!), and my face would stay red for about a week after the peel -- not a pretty look.